The present invention concerns albums, such as photo albums. In particular, the invention contemplates combining a photo album with an audio tape player.
Nearly every family in this country has a photo album in which various photographs and other memorabilia are maintained. The albums naturally serve as a sort of historical archives for the people and events that shape a family history. Photo albums memorialize these people and events for access by future generations interested in tracing their heritage.
One drawback of photo albums is that over time the meaning behind certain photographs or memorabilia can be lost or forgotten. For example, it is not uncommon for a photograph taken at a family event to show a person whose identity has faded from memory. This problem can sometimes be solved by including a written description with each photograph in an album describing the events or/or people in the photograph. The same difficulty and possible solution surrounds memorabilia and photographs whose significance in a family history requires some explanation. It is certainly a less than optimal solution to the problem to require people preparing the album to make what could be lengthy entries within the album pages to describe the contents of the album.
One alternative to a photo album is a video tape recorder. However, video tape systems are often very expensive to own and maintain. In addition, a video tape lacks the great convenience presented by a photo album that can be reviewed easily by anybody. Moreover, even though particular events and activities can be captured more completely with a video tape, the problem still exists concerning the identity of people on the tape, or the reasons for recording the events on tape, that may be lost in the memories of the participants over time. Finally, it is considerably easier to take individual photographs of people and events, as opposed to simply videotaping every day in the life of a family.
There therefore remains a great need for some means for providing a more complete description of the photographs and memorabilia contained within a photo album. This means should be easily connected with the album for use by future generations interested in learning a little about their family heritage.